BUSINESS NEWS news


Partnership will help IT company grow further


One of Wales’ fastest growing IT consultancies, Newport-based Certus IT, has announced a new partnership with communications experts Virgin Media Business. Certus IT has linked up with Virgin Media


Business through its Partner Programme, which aims to maximise opportunities for businesses to grow by providing them with the technical and practical support they need to tap into the expanding business data market. As part of the partnership deal, Certus will


be able to use Virgin Media Business’s fibre optic network to offer clients a super-fast connection to their servers at the Certus Data Centre. It will also be able to access sales and marketing support designed to help both businesses grow. Nigel Griffiths, commercial director at


Certus IT, said: “We are delighted to become partners with Virgin Media Business and to be able to offer our clients the benefits of their enhanced connectivity and super fast fibre optic network to access our data centre. “We launched the data centre in 2011


to meet the increasing demand for cloud computing services. This now accounts for 20 per cent of our business and is continuing to grow, so it is essential that we have the right infrastructure in place and give clients a choice when it comes to accessing their data.” Jason King, head of business partners at


Virgin Media, said: “We are looking forward to working with Certus closely in the coming years and I am sure that we will both benefit greatly from this partnership.”


Catherine is next in line


Catherine Jones hopes her new position as a legal assistant in the Newport office of Howells Solicitors will be the first step of her ambition to be the latest in a long line of solicitors. Her mother, Claire Davis, is a solicitor with


Howells in Newport and the ‘legal’ line dates back to her great grandfather, John (Jack) Davis who qualified in 1919 and formed Newport law firm Le Brasseur Davis & Sons. Gilbert Davis, her grandfather, was in


practice for almost 50 years as was her great uncle Tom Davis. Both were well respected solicitors and presidents of the Monmouthshire Law Society during their careers. Claire Davis, Catherine’s mother is a


Partner and Head of Wills and Probate at Howells Solicitors in Newport. Claire said: “I certainly knew that when


accepting articles in 1985, being a solicitor actually meant hard work, long hours, great responsibility and sadly not unlimited time to lunch and play! It has all been huge fun though, and I have had the good fortune to work for and with some great people helping to propose innovative solutions to a range of personal circumstances. I still look after families who used the services of my father and grandfather for years and many of them are now the children or even grandchildren of those clients. Catherine said: “I first became aware of the


legal profession at a very young age. The law was hard to avoid! I hope to qualify and live up to the Davis name and have a career as well regarded as the generations that have gone before me.”


‘Mighty’ society outperforms competitors


Data derived from the Government’s Funding for Lending Scheme has shown that Monmouthshire Building Society’s net lending in the final quarter of 2012 exceeded that of much larger competitors. As mentioned in the Times newspaper,


Business Editor Ian King states that “…net lending in the final quarter of 2012 by the mighty Monmouthshire Building Society exceeded that of Lloyds and RBS - both of which are still shrinking their balance sheets – combined”. Monmouthshire Building Society has been


lending consistently throughout the economic downturn of recent years, with the exceptional quality of their products being the key to the ongoing strength of its performance. Although the Society remains predominantly


Nigel Griffiths and Jason King 4 THEbusiness QUARTER


funded by retail savings deposits, using the Funding for Lending Scheme offers an additional funding


resource which has enabled the Society to pass on the financial benefits to its customers in the form of highly competitive mortgage products. Mutuals position their customers at the heart


of what they do, and the Funding for Lending Scheme allows them to further enhance their customer proposition in this regard. The Newport-based mutual Society


announced last year another excellent set of annual results, in which its assets grew to a record £742m, up from £692m the previous year.


In the 12 months to 30th April 2011, the


Society experienced exceptional growth of 7.2 per cent, while profit after tax exceeded £2.4m. This demonstrates that customers continue


to respond to the Society’s secure track record, quality of service and competitive product range.


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